


Among The Stars

by beyourmythical-bitch (dip_the_pip)



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Band Fic, Mutual Pining, Pop Punk AU, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22462597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dip_the_pip/pseuds/beyourmythical-bitch
Summary: Despite coming from a small town, they had big dreams. Link was willing to do anything to accomplish those dreams, and Rhett's willing to follow him anywhere to do it.So, they move to LA on a whim to try to make their dreams come true.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The songs in this fic can be found in [this playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6aKeM7UHmUjtIeSKSdcpAH)
> 
> The playlist will be updated as I continue to write the fic. If there's a song added that you haven't seen in the fic yet, it'll be in a later chapter!
> 
> I was torn between just making this one complete story and posting it once it was complete, or breaking it into chapters, and apparently I've settled on chapters, so I hope you enjoy!

His best friend was always so musical. He hummed random songs he’d make up on the spot, random rhymes and rhythms to fill quiet spaces and rooms with his voice. By the time they were 9, Link knew he wanted to be a star, and Rhett knew he wanted to be by Link’s side. And Link’s dream totally wasn’t the reason Rhett went home one night and begged his parents to sign him up for guitar lessons.

By 14, Link had fully written a dozen songs. Rhett had gotten better at guitar, too, and they managed to bring some life to a few of Link’s songs. At 15, they had met Avery and Markus and their band was complete. Avery was a senior who had been learning bass since freshman year, and Markus was a junior who played the drums.

They’d camp out in Markus’ garage on weekends, working day and night trying to get Link’s songs perfect. Markus and Avery loved Link’s energy and how much of himself he’d put into his songs and performances, even if it was just a show for Markus’ dog, or little sister when he had to babysit.

Thankfully, Avery didn’t leave for college, choosing to stay in Buies Creek working with his uncle and continuing to play with the band. Rhett managed to get them their first gig and his older brother’s college, in the student bar on campus. Rhett had been nervous, but Link was buzzing on adrenaline and caffeine. He had the crowd going, singing along to covers, clapping along, stomping in beat, singing lines of his own songs back at him. He’d hop and jump around stage, pulling dramatic poses.

The student bar became a regular gig for them, the owner giving them an hour on Friday nights. Link became big on campus, to the point of a music student asking if he could help them produce an EP for his final school project.

Then they started bringing Markus’ sister to sit off to the side of the stage selling the EP, the cover picture taken with a shitty disposable camera.

They played at different bars, different small events, even at a bowling alley.

Link always had the crowd going, mesmerized by his voice and noodle-y limbs bounding around the stage, climbing on different stage equipment and speakers whenever he could.

When Link and Rhett became seniors, that’s when they ran into issues. Link’s mum was supportive of Link chasing his dream, of travelling and trying to make something of himself with his talent. Rhett’s parents, however, wanted Rhett to make a realistic decision in his life. They said the band was cute in high school, but he seriously had to think about where he was wanting to attend school the following fall.

“Let’s just run away,” Link says one night, sitting down by the river. They had a little makeshift fire going, glowing warm between them as Rhett strums away at his guitar, the first one he ever bought himself.

“Run away? Are you crazy, man?” Rhett asks, chuckling lowly and shaking his head, “Firstly, it isn’t running away for you, because your mom knows you’re gonna end up leaving anyways. And secondly, once your mama knows where you are, my parents will know where I am, too,”

Link leans his elbows on his knees, his eyes glowing as bright as the fire reflecting off them. The corner of his mouth quirks up in a grin, “My mama isn’t expecting me to leave until the summer. If we leave now, they’d have no idea until we’re big stars,”

Rhett shrugs, his palm covering the strings and quieting the soft tune he was making, “What about Avery and Markus? They’ve waited around years for us to finish high school so we could all do something together,”

“We can invite them along,”

“All of our families go to the same church, if Ave and Mark come with us, our parents will figure it out even faster,”

Link clasps his hands together, cracking a few of the knuckles before scooting around the side of the fire to Rhett’s log. He takes the guitar away from him gently and sets it on the grass behind him, before smiling up at Rhett, “Then let’s go, just you and I, brother,” He says in a hushed voice, even though they have no reason to be quiet.

Rhett inhales deeply, though a little shaky, “What about money? We can’t afford to-”

“I’m an only child of divorce, do you really think I have to pay for things?” He asks, grinning cheekily, “I’ve got a savings account, all of our gigs and ep’s, that money’s just been going in there the last few years,” He says with a shrug, “I can take care of us, at least for a little while. Worst comes to worst, we get jobs on the side,”

Rhett swallows thickly, his hands shaky despite the fact that there’s no one else he trusts more than Link, “We’ll take care of each other, right?”

“Of course,” Link assures him, leaning into his side, “You’re my person, I can’t let anything happen to you,”

Rhett chuckles and wraps an arm around Link’s shoulders, his chest filling with warmth when Link wraps an arm around his lower back and his other arm across his stomach, his hands clasped together and holding himself into Rhett. “You’re my person, too,” Rhett whispers, Link’s hair tickling his jaw, “Monday morning. I’ll pick you up around the time we’d leave for school, and we can go?”

Link sits up again, eyes flitting quickly between Rhett’s eyes, a smiling growing on his lips, “Deal,”

-

Rhett hangs around his parents that weekend, even though all they end up doing is pestering him about picking a school. He hugs his mama extra tight before he goes to bed on Sunday night and once he hears his parents retreat into their room for the night, he pulls out a ratty, old duffle bag and starts packing. He doesn’t take too much, mostly just clothes, extra guitar picks, his passport, just in case, and any extra cash he had laying around.

He couldn’t sleep that night, tossing back and forth until the sun started peeking through his shades. He heard his parents get up, take their showers, clink and clunk around the kitchen until they both leave. Usually, he wouldn’t have to wake up for school for another half hour or so, but he wasn’t able to stay in bed today. He quickly showered, letting himself take the extra time to enjoy the hot water, since chances are, they were going to be staying in shady motels for the next little while. He scrubs his skin roughly, washing away Buies Creek for good.

When he’s finally dressed with his duffle bag and guitar in his truck, he still has ten minutes before he’d usually leave to grab Link for school. He paces, picking at his nail beds and repeatedly going over all his belongings in his mind to try and make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything.

He still ends up leaving early to get Link, but he’s sure he won’t mind. When he gets to Link’s, he parks and waits, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel. Less than a minute later, he can see Link in the window hugging his mama. Then, he’s coming out the front door and to the truck, looking as calm and collected as he did the night he made this ridiculous suggestion.

“Ready?” He asks after he tosses his backpack into the backseat of Rhett’s truck and grinning at him.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,”

-

They’re only 8-and-a-bit hours into their road trip when they get to Nashville. “Let’s stop for the night,” Link suggests.

Rhett shakes his head, “We can make this drive in like…less than 40 hours. It’s only like, 4pm, dude,”

“We’re gonna have to stop for gas again soon, and dinner, we might as well crash here tonight,”

“Aren’t we supposed to be saving money?” Rhett asks, but he’s already reaching to reroute the GPS for a hotel.

“We’ll get a fresh start tomorrow. Plus, we should do some grocery shopping,”

“For snacks?”

“Exactly,” Link grins, leaning back in his seat and turning up the radio, belting out along to the song, Rhett joining in with him and sending them both into belly laughs.

Rhett finds a cheap motel and manages to get them a room for the night. Then they go and grab some burgers before they go to a Walmart for snacks.

Link’s got their cart filled with salty and sugary snacks that’ll surely upset his stomach and make him complain, but Rhett doesn’t mind. They’re in the self-care section, grabbing Link a stick of deodorant, since he forgot his, when something catches Rhett’s eye.

While Link’s sniffing two deodorants, Rhett goes over to the hair dye. “What if we changed things up?”

“Hmm?” Link hums, not bothering to look over at Rhett.

“Like, dye our hair? Isn’t that something people do?”

Link does look over now, arching an eyebrow. “You think we should dye our hair?”

Rhett shrugs, looking at a few different boxes. “That’s how you get people to pay attention to you, right? By popping out, making a statement?”

Link puts one stick on the shelf and tosses the other deodorant into the cart before going over to look at the boxes of hair dye with Rhett. “I mean, I guess? What colours would we even do?”

“Well…what about like, Rhett and Red, and Link and…”

“Ain’t no colours that start with L, brother,” He says chuckling.

“Charles and crimson?”

Link shakes his head, “Ain’t that just red, too?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess,” Rhett sighs, his eyes scanning the boxes. “Link and lavender?”

Link snorts, grabbing the box of hair dye. “Really, you mean purple, but sure, lavender,” He grins up at Rhett, watching as he grabs his own box of red. “We need that bleach stuff too, don’t we?”

Rhett nods, grabbing a bottle of lightener. “We’re gonna look ridiculous,”

“Nah, it’ll be great,” Link says as he tosses everything into their cart, beginning to push it towards the check out. “C’mon, I wanna go back to motel and do this now,”

-

Link brings the crappy motel desk chair into the bathroom and tosses his shirt towards the only bed in the room. “We’re doing it to each other, right?”

Rhett nods, contemplating taking off his shirt before remembering he only has a limited amount of clothes, and he doesn’t need to ruin a perfectly good shirt with hair dye. “Yeah, that’s probably easier than doing it to ourselves,”

Link nods and plops himself down in the chair, running his fingers through his hair. “Alright, brother, dye me up,”

Rhett mixes the cream with the bleach powder in the bottle before putting on the gloves and beginning the process of bleaching Link’s hair. The fumes are a lot, almost making Rhett lightheaded. He didn’t bother to read any instructions beyond mixing the cream and powder, and begins rubbing it into Link’s scalp, letting his fingers massage his head, which has the younger man closing his eyes and pushing back into it.

“Damn, man, maybe I just gotta pay you to be my head massager instead of my guitarist,” Link hums.

Rhett stares in the mirror in front of them, watching Link’s face as he rubs the lightener into his hair, and he becomes more and more relaxed. Rhett almost thought he was asleep, until he starts whining.

“Shit, why is it burning?” He asks, starting to shift uncomfortably in the seat.

Rhett shrugs, and Link opens his eyes now, squinting in the mirror to look at Rhett. “I mean, it’s a chemical making your hair not-brown. Surely it’s meant to hurt?”

Link grumbles softly, pushing through the burning of his skin until the times up. He bends over the edge of the bathtub, and rinses it out, sighing in relief when the cold-water washes over his scalp.

Rhett just stands by the chair, watching as Link scrubs at his own hair, trying to get out all the bleach. When he stands back up with water dripping down his chest and back, his eyes quickly go to the mirror. He grins big, running his fingers through the wet, but now nearly blond locks. “Holy crap!”

“A good ‘holy crap’?”

Link nods, stepping closer to the mirror to get a better look at himself. “An amazing ‘holy crap’. Why didn’t we think about doing this sooner?”

Rhett shrugs, a grin tugging at his own lips. “I dunno, but you look great, man. My turn? Or are we gonna dry your hair and do the purple now?”

“Let’s do you, first. Yours probably won’t take as long, you’re lucky your hair is already pretty light,”

Rhett nods and takes his seat in the chair, watching Link through the reflection as he reads through the instructions. He’s only reading for a moment before he gently smacks Rhett in the back of the head.

“It literally says multiple times, and in bold, that the bleach shouldn’t touch your scalp, man!”

Rhett laughs, ducking to avoid another smack from Link. “I’m sorry, I didn’t read it!”

Link rolls his eyes and hits him with the instruction pamphlet again before putting on his own gloves and mixing the powder and cream now and beginning the process over again. Even though he read the instructions, he still rubs it into Rhett’s scalp, and Rhett isn’t sure if it’s because he’s already forgotten, or just for revenge. Either way, the burning starts quickly for Rhett, too.

Once Rhett has let his hair sit and then rinsed it out, they stand side-by-side in the mirror, just looking at their hair. “Why isn’t it as like, white and shiny as Eminem’s hair?” Link asks, making eye contact with Rhett in their reflection.

“I think for that, it’s more of a process. Like, bleaching a buncha times and adding blue and bleaching more, or somethin’,” Rhett says with a shrug. “We just need it light enough to take the purple and red,”

Link nods, grabbing the purple hair dye box. “Are we gonna look crazy?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Rhett chuckles, “but I think it’ll be worth it,”

Link uses the motel hair drier to finish drying his hair before Rhett began putting the purple into his hair. While Link’s hair was settling, he quickly did Rhett’s, too.

Once they had rinsed the colour out and used the conditioner from the box, they stood next to each other in the mirror again, matching grins. “Our parents would kill us,” Link says, and Rhett’s smile drops just slightly.

“Can we just…not talk about them?” He asks, a little softer. Link’s eyes soften, too, and he nods.

“Yeah, of course, man. I’m sorry.”

“I just…I’m happy we left, but I know they’re going to stress out and worry…”

“My mama is, too, but once we actually make something of ourselves, then we can go back home,”

“What if they want nothing to do with us?”

Link’s eyebrows furrow together, and he brings his hand up to rest of Rhett’s shoulder. “Then we’ll deal with that when we get there. If your parents turn you away whenever we go home, we’ve still got each other, right?”

Rhett stares into Link’s piercing blue eyes, a worried look painted across Link’s face. “Right, of course,” Rhett says quietly, and that brings a smile back to Link’s lips.

“Good,”

-

Link gets paranoid before they go to bed, afraid that his hair dye was going to bleed into the pillowcases, so he takes another shower while Rhett gets ready for bed. They settled for a room with only one bed, agreeing it was worth saving the extra cash.

Usually, Rhett slept in briefs, but knowing he was going to be next to Link, he brought along comfy sweatpants and an old basketball t-shirt to sleep in. He’s just climbing into bed, when Link’s walking back out and drying his hair with the towel they had already ruined earlier.

“Can I have that side?” Link asks, and Rhett has a hard time pulling his gaze from the towel draped low around his slim waist.

“Yeah, of course,” He nods, deciding to just roll onto the other side instead of circling around the bed. He hears Link chuckle as the bathroom door closes and clicks behind him again and then the blow drier starts up again.

Rhett settles into the bed, despite how uncomfortable and stale it all smells. He can’t really complain, though, he knew going into this that they didn’t have much cash to spend on their journey to California. Tomorrow they were just going to drive, they had to. Rhett’s sure that Link will argue or try to convince him to stay at another motel, but they couldn’t afford to. They didn’t even have somewhere to stay once they got the LA.

What were they thinking? Nothing about this plan was a good idea, besides the part about getting to go on the journey with Link. He knows this has to be harder for Link then he’s letting on, because he’s still the same Link that would get upset having to say goodbye to his mama when he’d have sleepovers. Luckily, he grew out of that, but this wasn’t just a sleepover for a night or two. Rhett didn’t even know how long it’d be, but Link’s a mama’s boy through and through.

Eventually the hairdryer shuts off, and then Link’s stepping out of the bathroom in pair of red plaid boxers.

“I can’t believe your hair is purple,” Rhett says softly, watching as Link flicks off the overhead light and climbs into the other side of the bed.

Link snorts, rolling onto his side to face Rhett, who was still sitting up against the headboard. “You’re one to talk, Ronald McDonald,”

Rhett gasps dramatically, pretending to be hurt. “Take that back!”

“Never, ever,” Link teases, and Rhett can easily make out his smile in the darkened room.

“Shut up, loser. We gotta sleep so we can get on the road early,”

Link huffs, tugging the blanket to his chin. “Do we haaave to?”

Rhett clicks the bedside lamp off and moves to lay down properly now, too, “If we wanna make it to California with any sort of money, yes, we have to,”

“Shoulda just flew there,” Link mumbles, his eyes closes and his newly purple locks flopping against his forehead.

“Then we’d really be broke,”

“But we’d be in LA,”

Rhett shrugs, letting his eyes sleepily trace the lines of Link’s face, “We would be,” he whispers.

“You think we’re gonna make it…right?”

“To LA? Yeah, just another like, 30 hours or something,”

“No, I mean…like, as performers,”

Rhett’s quiet, the sound of their breathing filling the room. “I hope so,”

“Me too…”

Rhett lets the conversation drop, not wanting to keep Link up. It wasn’t a particularly exhausting day, but mentally and emotionally, he’s sure Link is drained. This is all so big and new, and neither of them are ready, but they’re sure as hell going to try their hardest to make it work.

-

He’s surrounded in warmth, and skin, and the tickling feeling of breath on his neck. It only takes a few seconds for Rhett to remember his surroundings of the dingy motel room, and only a few more seconds to realize Link’s arms around him were the reason for the warmth and the feeling of skin.

He wants to relax into the embrace, but he doesn’t know if he’d be able to pull himself away if he fully indulged himself in that luxury. It doesn’t matter, though, because next thing he knows, Link’s shifting behind him and yawning, waking himself up.

“Time’s is?” He grumbles into the back of Rhett’s neck, clearly not caring that they ended up spooning in the small motel bed.

Rhett looks at the nightstand, letting his eyes adjust, “6:37am,” He whispers back, and he can feel Link’s hold on Rhett’s torso tighten.

“Why’re we ‘wake?”

Rhett shrugs, trying not to make too much movement to pull Link out of this sleepy daze, “Jus’ woke up, man,” He says quietly, “Should probably hit the road soon, though,”

“No thanks,” Link mumbles, and Rhett almost can’t hear him.

“You can sleep in the truck,”

Rhett can feel Link’s hair tickling the back of his neck as he shakes his head, “Then you’ll be alone,”

“You’re gonna be trapped with me in LA anyways, you might as well catch some beauty sleep,”

Link scoffs, but there’s no bitterness behind it, “M’ beautiful ‘nuff…”

Rhett lets his eyes close, smiling to himself. “Yeah, you are,”

Within seconds, Rhett can tell Link’s fallen back to sleep when his breathing gets heavy again, and Rhett makes a mental note not to let them stay in bed too long. He fails, though, because next time he opens his eyes the digital clock reads 8:23am and he can hear Link shuffling around the room.

“Mornin’ brother,” Link says cheerfully, tossing Rhett’s duffle bag onto the bed. “What happened to us hittin’ the road early?”

Rhett sits up, rubbing his face and yawning loudly, stretching his arms above his head before running his fingers through his newly red hair. “Tried to, we woke up at like, 6:30 but you insisted we needed to keep sleeping,” He says as he climbs out of the bed to get ready.

“Pfft, nah, that wasn’t me,”

Rhett raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief, “Must’ve been our other singer that was spoonin’ me last night then, huh?”

Link’s face tints red, as he rolls his eyes, “Shut the hell up, I’m not used to sleeping with another person,”

Rhett takes off the t-shirt he slept in and digs around his bag for another shirt. “I’m not either, but you didn’t see me spooning you,”

“Yeah, because you’re a little spoon,” 

“Excuse me?”

Link giggles, shrugging a bit, “I dunno, but like, it’s obvious that you like to be the little spoon,”

“More like your noodle limbs tried to squeeze me to death in our sleep,”

When Link turns around to dig around in his own backpack, Rhett quickly turns and changes his boxers and jeans, managing to get his belt done up by the time Link’s looking his way again.

“Mickey D’s for breakfast?” Link asks, and Rhett’s not too sure how Link’s eyes are still brighter than his purple hair.

“Works for me,”

-

Within an hour after stopping to grab breakfast, Link’s asleep in the passenger’s seat. Rhett doesn’t mind, he just turns the radio down a little bit and sits with his thoughts. Occasionally, Link will grumble or shift around in his sleep, but besides that, it’s a peaceful trip. By 11pm, they were only another 8 hours or so until they hit LA. Link wanted to stop again for the night, but Rhett turned it down and made Link take over driving instead, so Rhett could catch some sleep.

When Rhett’s eyes crack open, it’s daylight out again, “We there yet?” He grumbles sleepily, letting his eyes droop closed again.

Link chuckles beside him, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel. “Hell yeah, brother. Just heading to the outside of the city to find a slightly cheaper hotel.”

“Can’t believe we made it…”

“Having any regrets yet?”

The corner of Rhett’s lips upturn in a grin, “None,”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder! If you wanna listen to the songs I mention in this fic, the Link to the playlist is at the beginning of chapter 1!
> 
> Enjoy!

Lucky for them, they manage to get a shitty basement apartment, fairly quickly, below an elderly lady that claims they remind her of her grandkids that never call her.

Nothing feels real as they go exploring around a new Walmart, an LA Walmart, looking for the basic things they needed to, well, survive. She already had a couch and a bed in the basement apartment, but other than that, they had nothing. They only bought one pot, one pan, a baking sheet, and the cheapest set of cups and dishes they could. They found a cheap coffee maker, too, for Link.

“So, what’s our sleeping situation?” Rhett asks as they make their way to the home comfort section. “You taking the couch?”

Link raises an eyebrow, pushing the cart. “No way, I’m way too long, it’ll mess me up,”

“Well, I’m taller than you, so I win by default,”

“Not a chance. We can just both take the bed, right? We’ve slept next to each other during sleepovers and camping trips for years, we can tough it out a little while until we figure something out,”

Rhett rolls his eyes but doesn’t bother to argue. They grab a few throw blankets, deciding they were cheaper than a duvet, some cheap sheets, and a couple of pillows. 

Rhett does his best to look away once the total pops up at the checkout and Link swipes his card.

“So,” Link starts as they load up bags on their arms to carry back to the truck, “There’s an open mic night at a bar a few blocks from us, I think we should go tonight,”

“Really?” Rhett asks, trying to carefully grab the car keys from his back pocket to unlock the truck without dropping any of the bags, “We’ve only been in the city like, a week, shouldn’t we just settle in a bit first?”

Once the truck is unlocked, Link opens the back door and piles his bags in there before taking the bags from Rhett’s arms and throwing them in the back, too, “No, man. We gotta get out and on the town, we gotta make LA our bitch,” He grins, glancing back over his shoulder at his taller friend.

“And we’re gonna accomplish that by going to an open mic night?”

“We’re gonna accomplish that by kicking ass at the open mic night,” Link corrects, slamming the back door shut and circling around the truck to climb in the passenger’s side. “We gotta start somewhere, just like the student bar,”

Rhett just shakes his head, chuckling quietly to himself as he climbs into the truck and starts it up, heading back to their basement apartment.

They enjoy the sound of the radio playing music quietly, and the hustle and bustle of the city around them.

“Have you talked to your mom at all?” Rhett asks softly, and for a second he isn’t quite sure if he said it out loud or just in his head, since Link doesn’t immediately react or answer.

“I, uh,” Link scratches the back of his neck, sighing heavily, “Sorta, I guess? I kind of felt like I had to. I couldn’t just leave her behind without saying anything. I was really all she had,” He says softly, almost guiltily, “have you talked to your parents?”

Rhett shakes his head, “No, but I don’t know if I want to…”

“I’m sure my mama let them know you’re alright, that we’re alright,”

Rhett shrugs his shoulders a little, chewing on his bottom lip, “Might be why they haven’t sent out a search party already,”

“It might help put your mind at ease if you give them a call,” Link suggests.

But Rhett shakes his head adamantly. “They’ll either demand I come home, or disown me completely, and I’m not prepared to deal with either of those situations,”

“Alright,” Link says quietly, letting the sound of the radio fill their silence.

-

When they get to the bar that night, they show their fake ID’s before making their way to a table near the front. It’s busy and full, and Rhett can practically see the excitement in Link’s eyes.

“There was never this many people at the student bar,” He says, leaning close to Rhett’s ear but still practically having to yell over the music.

“So, what’s our game plan?”

“We’ll start with ‘disaster’,” Link says, “Then ‘highway’ if we can get on stage a second time. Then we can figure it out from there, I guess,”

Rhett nods, “It’s gonna be hard without bass and drums,”

Link shrugs, flicking his head to get the purple locks out of his face. “We’ll manage. We made music before them; we can continue without them.”

Rhett nods, his fingers tapping on the table along with the performance that was already happening on stage. “Should I go put us down?”

Link nods, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder as Rhett gets up and goes to the edge of the stage, signing them up for a slot before returning to the table.

“Four people before us,”

Link’s practically bouncing in his seat, his smile wide and showing off his little pointy teeth. “Our first performance in LA…”

“Crazy, right?” Rhett grins back, unable to help the giddiness in his chest.

-

“Please welcome to the stage, Rhett and Link, performing an original song,” The announcer says, and there’s scattered applause in the crowd. Everyone else had been doing karaoke, basically, and Rhett could sense the worry in just the applause. It’s LA, people probably tried to perform their own music all the time, only to be teased and booed off stage and never to be heard from again.

Rhett felt confident, though. He believed in Link. He believed in their music.

Rhett and Link make it to the stage and Rhett grabs the electric guitar that they provided. Rhett sits on a stool while Link grabs the mic from the stand and begins to do his little performance bounces, trying to hype himself up.

He gives them his show-stopping smile, thanks for everyone coming out that night, and then lowers his head as Rhett begins the opening cords.

It wasn’t their most up-beat song, but it was the most popular with the students back home. The song reflected on the difficulties of life, of existence. How all you can do sometimes, is just leave. How life can take everything out of you.

Rhett can tell the song doesn’t have the same impact as it would with a drummer, but by the end, he can spot out people in the crowd mouthing along to the chorus, and that ignites something in him.

As Link’s voice fades out, the applause begins, and it’s overwhelmingly loud.

Link thanks them again for coming out, and Rhett offers a wave as they make their way off the stage and the announcer brings up the next singers.

They walk off to the side, and then Link is bouncing up and down and turning to face Rhett, grabbing him by his arms and grinning, “Holy shit!” He exclaims and pulls Rhett in for a tight hug. “That was exhilarating!”

Rhett can’t help but laugh, hugging back the smaller man tight, “That was crazy, man,”

Link pulls away, his hands grabbing Rhett’s shoulders, “I’m grabbing us drinks, and then hopefully we can snag another slot,”

Before Rhett can reply, Link’s weaving through the crowd to get them drinks. Rhett finds a free table and sits down, enjoying the next act until Link returns with two beers and two shots.

“To LA!” Link says, just loud enough for Rhett to hear over the music. Link hands him the shot glass with clear liquid in it, and they clink them together before downing the vodka shot. Link looks on the verge of being sick from the shot before he chugs down some beer.

Rhett takes the shot with him, his face twisting up before he drinks some of the beer, too. They watch through a few acts, Link getting up at some point to refill their beers, and Rhett feels warm and fuzzy. He’s slightly buzzed, but after the second beer, he knows he needs to pace himself if he wants to actually be able to play another song. While Link’s replacing their beers, he goes to the stage and puts them in for another slot. 

When their names are announced for a second time that night, people clap at their return. By the time they get back up on stage, Link’s definitely feeling his drinks. He’s got a little extra spring in his step, and he’s let himself get a bit looser in his movements.

“Alright,” Link starts, bouncing a bit on his toes, his vibrant smile winning over the crowd, “As is obvious to, well, anyone and everyone, we don’t have a drummer,” He points out, gesturing with his thumb behind him, where Markus would’ve been, “So, we need your help,”

Rhett’s partially paying attention, getting himself situated on the stool and testing out a few chords, letting his fingers dance over the strings as he mentally goes over the song in his head as Link leads the crowd into clapping the beat of the song.

Link claps along with them, and glances back at Rhett. Rhett gives him a little nod and smirks, beginning to play the opening to ‘highway’.

Link hops around the stage, shaking his hips to the beat and bopping his head along, belting out the lines and capturing the crowd. He put his all into it, and it never fails to impress Rhett how Link could control an audience. It was like breathing for him.

As Link’s voice fades, the crowd is cheering and clapping even louder than before. Link blows a kiss and laughs, going back to Rhett and wrapping an arm around his shoulders and dragging him to the front of the stage to bow with him. It was a little overdramatic, but Rhett loves every second up on stage with Link.

-

Link collapses on the couch the moment they get back home, still riding the high from their performances. “It never gets old,”

Rhett hasn’t been able to keep the grin off his face either, adrenaline and cheap beer coursing through his system. “You killed it, man,”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, y’know,” He grins, “without you, I’d just be an annoying voice trying too hard,”

“Nah, they would’ve loved you regardless,” Rhett says as he chucks a bottle of water in Link’s direction. Link fumbles to catch it, and it lands on the couch next to him instead. “I think the real question is, do we become regulars at their open mic nights, or explore different bars?”

Link shakes his head as he gulps down the water, “Every bands origin story starts in just one bar that helped them grow. I think the Poison Ivy Bar is our home now,”

Rhett smiles behind the lip of his own water bottle, humming.

While Link’s lounging on the couch, Rhett goes into the bedroom and finally makes up the bed, since they pretty much dumped all the Walmart bags in the room before heading out for the evening. It should feel weirder, Rhett thinks, making up a bed for himself and Link to share for an unknown amount of time, but it doesn’t. It feels natural, like he’s already been doing it for years.

He hums their own songs softly to himself, preparing their bed. Link opens the door quietly and leans against the doorway, a small, fond smile playing on his lips. Rhett turns to see him and doesn’t try to fight the smile that comes to his lips when his eyes land on Link.

“Bedtime?” Link asks, and when Rhett nods, Link peels off his shirt and tosses it towards their mostly empty closet, and shoves his jeans off, kicking them off to the side too, and climbs into the bed in his boxers.

Rhett says nothing, following in suit and climbing into bed in his boxers as well. He lays on his back, his body tense as he waits for Link to pass out. He’s not sure how long passes until he hears Link’s soft voice.

“Thank you for coming with me,” He whispers into the darkness, and Rhett doesn’t turn to look at him, but he sounds a lot closer than he thought Link was.

“Of course,” He says softly back, “Like you said, hard for you to perform without music,”

“No, not just for coming to the bar with me,” Rhett feels the bed shift a bit, and then Link’s pressed up beside him, “Coming to LA, leaving home with me…I really couldn’t have done it without you,”

Rhett shrugs a bit, and lets his eyes fall shut, “Thanks for convincing me to leave. Struggling out here, with you, is still a million times better than being back home looking at colleges. But even without me, you would’ve ended up out here anyways,”

Link yawns, and Rhett feels an arm snake across his midsection. “No way, man. I would’ve been sittin’ at home waiting for you to finish school,”

“Really?”

He feels Link nod, “I talked big game about coming out here all alone, but honestly, I wasn’t going anywhere without you,”

Rhett smiles into the darkness, “Thanks, brother,”

Link fights back another yawn, and Rhett finally lets himself relax into the bed.

“Y’know, you don’t already have to be tryna spoon me,” Rhett points out.

“We’re gonna end up this way anyways, might as well start off this way, too,”

Rhett chuckles quietly, and lets himself roll away from Link, feeling Link cuddle in close behind him and tightening his arm around him.

“Goodnight, Link,”

“Night, Rhett,”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on tumblr @beyourmythical-bitch


End file.
